A trusted employee who fleeced her company of £370,000 has dodged jail because she’s pregnant.
Danielle Longstaffe defrauded her firm out of six-figure sums because she was being chased by loan sharks. A court heard how the scheming worker transferred £218,000 to herself and others and also hired vehicles using the company’s supplier.
The Chronicle Live reports how she worked for Kaefer Ltd, a transport administrator in Jarrow, and had been employed there since 2012. A boss at the company identified between £80,000 and £90,000 had vanished between April and May 2022, which led to Longstaffe coming under suspicion.
At Newcastle Crown Court a judge said he had to have regard to Longstaffe’s unborn child while sentencing her and she avoided the prospect of having to give birth in prison when she got a suspended sentence.
Longstaffe had been transferring money from her employer’s account to herself and friends and family using false details to try to cover her tracks. The court heard how she also forged the signature of a transport manager.
When she was challenged on the disappearing finances she confessed to her employer how much money she had stolen where it had gone. In total, there were £218,000 of unauthorised banking transactions,
There was also further fraudulent activity in relation unauthorised vehicle hire, using a supplier the company used. That resulted in 33 vehicles being missing. The total value of the cars and repairs was £141,000.
There was also more than £10,000 of unauthorised use of a company credit card. The total value of the fraud was £370,194. The company said there were also outstanding Tyne Tunnel and parking charges worth £19,000.
Longstaffe, 32, who has no previous convictions, pleaded guilty to fraud by abuse of position between September 1, 2021, and May 13, 2022. She was sentenced to two years suspended for two years with a mental health treatment requirement.
Recorder Harry Vann told her: “It’s clear from banking records and what you said interview you took advantage of your position in a company where you had worked for nine years and decided, suddenly, after a period of successful employment, to start stealing enormous sums, they were enormous sums every single month.”
According to the judge 300 of her colleagues were affected by Longstaffe’s actions. He also reflected on her history of mental health and she cares for her elderly grandmother.
He added: “I have to take into account the impact on any pregnant woman. I have to have regard to the interests of the unborn child you carry.
“Ordinarily speaking I would say such a crime demanded immediate custody. However the welfare of your unborn child takes precedence and must.”
Clare Anderson, defending, said: “She acknowledges this is serious criminal offending and that she’s at serious risk of an immediate custodial sentence. This started because of difficulties she got herself into because of loan sharks.
“She was a well-respected employee at that company for nine years. Unfortunately she found an easy way to access cash. It was a simple forged signature, which is not to underplay the magnitude of what happened.
“She’s wholly and utterly remorseful and she doesn’t wish to use her pregnancy as an excuse. She has not got pregnant to avoid any sentence that might be imposed.
“This has been hanging over her for a considerable period of time and she just wants to know her fate. They were colleagues and friends of hers and she’s devastated she let them down.”
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